Internship at Government Organisation vs Internship at Private Company

Internship is one of the requirements for graduation. It gives opportunity to students to gain experience and prepare them for their job in the future. It can be conducted in the last semester of study or earlier depends on course and university. One of the problems that students may face is to decide where to intern. At government organisation or at private company? Therefore, let's see the differences before you decide.

Firstly, we will discuss about internship at government organisation. If you are planning to intern there, you need to prepare extra money to post the needed documents such as resume, reference letter from faculty et cetera. This is because some government organisations do not have official email and they may ask you to send the documents to the head quarter. However, you can try to get the person in charge's contact number and ask whether you can email the documents to that person or not.

Sometimes it is better for you to call the related department and ask about internship opportunity and the procedure to apply for internship especially if no response on your email after few days.

For those who plan to work in public sector, internship at government organisation may give you some overview on their working style. You have to remember that working in government sector and private sector are different. You also have to be ready to be placed at any location in Malaysia. The chance for you to get an internship placement in the branch that you want is lower compared to private company.

Bear in mind that interning at government organisation does not mean that you can secure a job in that organisation. You still need to apply through Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam (SPA) after you graduate. However, the good thing is the government has implemented paid internship in their organisations (but not sure how far is the implementation for now). So, you will be paid as long as you fulfill the terms and conditions.

On the other hand, application for internship at private company may help you to save postage cost as they commonly request you to email all the needed documents. Some companies have an online application form. Therefore, you just need Internet to apply for it.

Most of the time, private companies provide their contact details such as phone number and email in their website or social media. You may also find information on internship opportunities in their website.

The good thing about interning at private company is usually you can get internship placement at the branch that you want. This is because some private companies may have only one branch. Therefore, you do not have to worry of being placed in the branch that is far from what you targeted.

Apart from that, the chance for you to secure a job after internship is higher. If you did a good work during internship, the company might offer you a permanent position provided that your internship is in the final semester of your study.

For those who want to go for internship at private company, you have to be prepared of not being paid or get little allowance. This is because paid internship is not compulsory in private sector.

No matter where are you going for internship, the most important thing is the experience that you will get during the internship. Choose the place that you think is suitable for you. Good luck and all the best for your internship. May you get an internship place that suits you well. Pray for me too because I am going for internship in March and still searching an internship place (really hope can intern in Pahang).